A busy last 24 hours for SMG plc has seen its former acting chief executive resign, the publication of poor financial results (with revenue and profits both down) and the announcement that it it is to float its radio arm, Virgin Radio, on the Stock Exchange, as a separate company.

But despite Donald Emslie stepping down from the SMG board, with immediate effect, he is to remain at the company in an advisory capacity until next month, assisting the man who took over from him at the beginning of last month, Rob Woodward.

Emslie had been ‘holding the fort’ as acting chief executive, following the departure of Andrew Flanagan in July. Woodward’s appointment – along with a new chair, Richard Findlay, and various new board members – followed a major shareholder, Hanover Investors Management LLP, seeking a change in the way the company was being managed.

Compared to 2005, last year’s SMG figures saw revenue down eight per cent, from